PBase is like family, it's not perfect but I'm hanging in. I feel at home.
I concur.
I'll toss my hat into the ring regarding stats, but I do have a bit of a contrarian view. Like many here, I enjoy the ability to gauge how many folks take the time to come through my galleries to look around. But the main reason that I am here on PBase is to enjoy photography and to learn from some of the very talented photographers who share with us. I'm not going to obsess about hits and counts or anything else of the sort. That
is not a reason to join PBase or to keep galleries here ( or to "remove" images as if one thinks the world turns upon a gallery's presence or absence ).
I do think that a more relevant issue is to ask what is indeed going on behind the scenes at PBase as the webmasters are surprisingly silent and there do appear to be lots of niggling issues cropping up in the background. But I say this not to castigate the management as much as I wonder about the sustainability of the PBase model which IMO still has a lot going for it even if the virtual gutters leak and the floors creak and need repair. We are afterall advertisment free and our browsing is unencumbered by the banal banter of pop up ads and other commercial intrusiveness which so typifies many photo hosting sites. And although I do not avail myself of the great flexibility that PBase has for employing my own CSS sheets for my gallery, I continue to enjoy the open-endeness and flexibility that PBase offers its members. And although it feels a bit shaky at times, I like to think that there remains a sense of community here at PBase. I would hate to lose this.
Now I have noticed the past few months a subtle change in the character of PBase. We still have that core of professionals and inspired amateurs who post and share their creative work. But I also notice the proliferation of "girlie galleries" which display marginal photo skill / creativity. I'm not sure if this is measure of the temporary flow of the moment or if it is a measure of change at PBase. And I'm not gonna criticize the aesthetic intent of these galleries other than saying that after enjoying the fantastic work by so many dedicated PBasers in all sorts of genres, I'm personally puzzled at how some folks can post comments that say "great work" and "masterful" for marginal galleries when many of us know well what truely creative work looks like measured by the work in many creative PBase galleries. So I'm not against the girlie galleries -- afterall there's a big audiance out there and the world goes round and round on sex etc., but it does get a bit tiresome to see the thumbnail bait and switch which goes on to entice visits. Good content of any kind sells itself -- and I do follow the fine work of many model shooting PBasers.
So I think we are all better off here if we concentrate more upon the art and technique of photography and less upon who has the most hits as if this is a true measure of anything ( though I do believe that the majority of the galleries listed as "most popular" do indeed earn that distinction by the cailber of the photography on display ). The true community function of PBase is taking the time to comment/critique earnestly the work of others instead of rushing around to build networks of folks who will vote for you. The again, perhaps I'm just a virtual dinosaur who is out of step with hits and counters. But I do love photography and I hope that PBase remains successful.
Barry